Deletion in Hansard: Sarawak assembly’s dignity at stake

S Pathmawathy

If there were ever passages omitted from the Hansard on purpose, it would be a disgrace to the reputation of the Sarawak state legislative assembly.

Saying this, Selangor assembly speaker Teng Chang Khim said never since the set up of the institution of Parliament and the state legislative bodies in the country, has anything of the sort had ever occurred.

Teng (left) was responding to an incident at the Sarawak state assembly where Pending assemblyperson Violet Yong Wui Wui has claimed that parts of her speech during the November sitting were not included in the Hansard.

Yong has written to the Sarawak assembly speaker Awang Asfia Nasar on the matter, but has yet to receive a reply.

According to Yong, parts of the speech touching on the families of Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and Deputy Chief Minister Dr George Chan were left out of the Hansard.

The Hansard is a printed transcripts of proceedings in the Parliament and state assemblies.

“This should not have happened because debates are recorded verbatim and it has been the practice (of copying it in a Hansard) for over a hundred years,” said Teng, who is also Sungai Pinang assemblyperson.

He told Malaysiakini it is against convention for parts of an assemblyperson’s speech to be removed and it sets a “bad precedent”.

“I hope it is a technical issue and I hope they do the necessary to restore the Hansard. Otherwise it affects the reputation and dignity of the House,” said Teng.

‘There is always a back-up’

Parliament deputy speaker Wan Junaidi Jaafar (right), when contacted, confirmed that although the laws of the state legislative assembly may differ in certain aspects, their rules are similar to the practice of Parliament.

“Never in my 21 years in Parliament have I heard of such a thing happening. Whether we like it or not there will never be censorship of the proceedings,” he said.

“The only way censorship is done is – in the event that an elected representative violates the Standing Orders and rules – disciplinary action will be taken but we do not change anything or black-out anything the MPs say,” said the Santubong MP.

He stressed that by convention the proceedings of the House are recorded on audio and video as well as by two stenographers.

“Only in this way we can record everything verbatim,” he said.

He admitted, however, that he was unsure if there is a similar practice in the Sarawak state assembly.

He added that the regulations of the House were such that mistakes, if there were any, can only be fixed by the authority of the state assembly.

“There was a speakers’ conference in 1962 or 1964… the whole idea was to streamline the Standing Orders and rules. We just made a little modification to suit the two Houses in Parliament.

“If there was ever such a thing as blacking-out details from the Hansard, definitely someone will be held responsible,” said Wan Junaidi. – Malaysiakini